The adventures of Sabine Babineux
by BeMyGobletOfFire
Summary: Sabine Babineux has moved from France to England right after the Battle of Hogwarts. She meets the golden Trio and joins them in their final year. How will things work out when Sabine meets the infamous Draco Malfoy? Eventual Sabine/Draco
1. The letter

**OK This is my first fic on here so be nice :)**

**Basically, Sabine Babinuex has just moved from France to England straight after the battle of Hogwarts ends. She will join Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny in Hogwarts for her final year. Because she spent a year out travelling, she gets to use the temporary " 8****th**** year" as her final year too. **

**I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS THAT YOU RECOGNISE!**

**Enjoy**

"Saby? Sabine? Come downstairs there's an owl for you."

I could just about hear the muffled sounds of my mother's lightly accented calls over the sound of my CD player. I rapidly stopped leaping all over my room (pretending to tidy), turned the player down and flew out of my room and down the beige carpeted staircase. If this owl had a letter with a red seal on the back, my day was about to get a whole lot better.

I ran through the hall, skidded round a corner into our cosy loving room and leaped on top of our leather sofa as a short cut. With a thump I landed, narrowly avoiding our fat boxer dog, Suki, and sprinted into the kitchen. Feeling extremely impressed at my own speedy descent from my bedroom, I imagined crowds surrounding me, cheering me. I had just won a very important race. In my head.

"Sabine, stop being silly and come and read this letter. It could be important." Scolded my mother as she grabbed my arm to stop me turning a circle of glory.

"Is it from _them_ mum? " I asked as I shooed off her hands and went to the window facing the fields on one side of our house. Normally I would have stopped to appreciate the way the sun was hitting the apple trees, the way the little stream with an arch of tall trees hanging over it looked like the perfect place for a fairy story, but not today.

I hastily fumbled with the letter, my hands shaking with nerves and excitement, and turned it over. A red seal, exactly like the one I had been dreaming of for weeks now, shone up at me, inviting me to tear it apart and read its contents. I did just that and, throwing the envelope aside, opened up the letter.

I hadn't properly got into my victory dance when my mother came rushing over to me, muttered to herself ("Honestly, do you ever stop dancing?") and took the letter from my hands, which were currently doing a rather vigorous hand-jive.

"Oh Saby! You're going to Hogwarts!" my mother squealed as she finished reading through the parchment in her grip. I reluctantly finished my hand jive with (quite spectacular) jazz hands and let myself be enveloped in my mother's arms. My mum gave the best hugs. I heard a slight sniffle and looked up to see her wiping her eyes with her free, bejewelled hand.

"Mum? Why are you crying? It's only a school!" I asked, startled. My mother wasn't usually someone to show her emotions freely and so it shocked me to see her crying so openly.

"I'm just being silly Saby. Im just so happy that you will have a school to go to come September. I was so worried about how you would settle in. You had friends and family in France and I knew it would be hard for you to change everything in one go. But now you are going to a proper English school and going to make new friends and you are going to be happy and..."

"Mum, your rambling." I interrupted her. When she got her rare bursts of emotion, she tended to talk and talk and talk.

"Oh, I know, sorry. Right." She began to gather herself. "Now, we need to take a trip to Diagon alley, so I'll send an owl to Molly and check when she is going. We can all go together. You can get to know Ginny again. You used to be great friends and if im not mistaken you will most likely be in her year." She walked over to the table where I had thrown the envelope and looked inside it. She pulled out a smaller piece of parchment which looked like a list of equipment and books that I would need for the New Year.

"Ginny? Weasley? The last time I saw her she was tiny." I said, astonished, pulling myself up onto the counter and grabbing a scone from the flowery bread bin by my elbow.

"Well you were tiny too dear. You were both, what? 9 maybe? Very friendly with Harry Potter, I hear." Said my mum, as she pulled me off the counter and began to make lunch.

"Really? As in You know Who Harry Potter?" I asked. I pulled out a chair at the table and scanned over the equipment list that mum had left on the table. I was really excited for our trip to Diagon Alley. I couldn't really remember the last time I had been. I was sure loads had changed and I couldn't wait.

"Apparently. Although I don't think you can call him "You know Who Harry Potter" anymore. Not after last year." My mum absentmindedly waved her long, thin wand over her shoulder as she joined me at the table with 2 steaming hot, brightly coloured cups of tea. A large knife pulled itself from the knife block and began elegantly cutting the cheese and bread that mum had lain out on the old chopping board.

"But surely he won't be coming to Hogwarts again? Not after that massive war." I asked. Why would he want to go back to somewhere with so many bad memories?

"Well, according to Molly, her son Ron, his girlfriend Hermione and Harry ( all great friends you know) have all been asked back to complete their missed year. Remember we read about how they ran around the country for nearly a year? They didn't stay at Hogwarts for their final year so they are going to repeat it." My mum had now pulled out her nail file. I always insisted that she could use her wand to fix her nails, had even offered to show her the spell, but she insisted that her nails were an art and they deserved attention.

I peered over at the progress of the sandwiches and saw that the mayonnaise was now spreading itself onto the thickly sliced bread.

"Do me a favour dear and call Billy for me please? I'd like to send that letter to Molly sooner rather than later." Called mum, who was now pulling parchment from the writing desk in the living room.

I pulled myself from my chair and set my yellow sunflower mug by the sink. I skipped through the living room and made my way through the dining room, my eyes scanning over the many family photos resting on top of the dusty old piano in the corner.

As I flew through the back door and began across the garden to the small shed that we kept Billy (My mum and dad's massive tawny owl) and Blondie (My own snow white baby owl) in, my heart burst into song and I suddenly realised that I wasn't in my garden anymore. I was on top of the mountains, I had just escaped for a brief moment of freedom from the convent and I was singing at the sun and the wind and for the glory of life!

But then I was back in the shabby old shed and I laughed at myself as I put my arm out for Billy. The large tawny swooped down and gently landed; adjusting itself to make sure it wasn't hurting my arm. I carefully walked back to the house so as to not ruffle him and set him on the back of the sofa.

"You got the words wrong." Said mum as I sat back down at the table, my fresh sandwich sitting in front of me.

"Mmph?" I asked, mouth full of Cheese and bread.

"It's "My day in the hills" not "The day and the hills." You were singing it wrong." Mum stood up and left to the living room to give Billy the letter that she had finished writing and I scowled after her.

I finished my sandwich and shoved my dish in the sink. I gulped down a glass of juice and made my way back upstairs.

Suddenly the stairs transformed into a red carpet. At the top sat a podium covered in red velvet and as I reached it, I looked out over the screaming crowd.

"I am extremely honoured to be accepted to this famous, historical school. I want to thank my mum, for being a witch, my father, for letting us move back to England, and my dog Suki, for never letting me give up on my dream." I sobbed into the microphone, acting extraordinarily emotional at my acceptance.

"Ahem." Said mum, who now stood behind me on the red carpet, which was now rapidly morphing back into a staircase. I mumbled a sorry in between giggles and sprinted the rest of the stairs up to my room.

"Diagon Alley in a week, Saby." Called my mum from her room across the landing.

I flicked on my CD player and my music began blaring out again. I resumed my place on top of my bed and began leaping about, my sunflower bedspread flying up around me.

"Little Shop, Little Shop of Hogwarts! Little Shop, Little Shop of Hogwarts!" I belted at the top of my lungs, altering the words slightly to fit my current train of thought.

"Wrong words, yet again." Mum shouted over the music.

**Thank you so much for reading and make sure you review! Please :D xx**


	2. The Weasleys

**Second chapter! Hope you enjoy **

**I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS THAT YOU RECOGNISE!**

The days had seemed to pass in a blink and before I knew it, mum was telling me to go to bed early so that I would be up in time to get to Mollies house.

"Remind me why I have to wake up at 8 in the morning if we aren't meant to arrive at Diagon Alley until 11?" I shouted across the landing to my mum as I pulled on my sunflower slippers.

"Because, we need to walk to the Weasley's where we are going to have breakfast and then floo to Diagon Alley. Molly seemed to think that we will need lots of spare time. And no doubt you will take months to get ready." Said my mum, as she pulled her long golden hair back into a pony tail, like she always did before she went to bed.

I had always wished I had hair like my mums. We were complete opposites in every way. Where she had long blonde hair, that nearly reached her hips, I had curly auburn hair that barely reached my waist. Mum rarely tied her hair back from her face, where as I rarely had mine down. I was much more like my father than my mother.

"Ugh..J'ai besoin de mon sommeil." I muttered to myself. I rarely spoke in French when not around French relatives, but if I was particularly annoyed then I would express myself in my mother's main language. Mutterings always sounded more impressive in French.

I checked the alarm clock by my bed and found that it was only 10.30. What a ridiculous hour to be going to bed at. I shut my bedroom door behind me, making my raincoat and multiple jackets swing in a sad way.

I flopped down onto my bed and pulled the covers over me, kicking off my slippers in the process. I grabbed my book and wand from the shelf above my head. I knew that if mum caught me reading when I was meant to be trying to sleep, she would take my CD player from me, so I pulled the covers right over my head and muttered "Lumos ".

I was immediately immersed in my latest obsession. Roald Dahl. I was currently reading a collection of his short stories. My favourite was Kiss Kiss. My mind was soon full of Dahl's amazing writing skills and I finally decided to stop reading when I had read the same line at least 4 times. I popped my head out from under the covers and saw I twas now 12.45. Now this was a reasonable time to sleep. Humming to myself, I flicked on my CD player, turned the volume down and let my mind be taken over by dreams. Tomorrow I would be meeting Harry Potter.

"Mum? Mum, where are my skinny jeans? This is urgent! Urgent, urgent, urgent!" I shouted down the stairs. The towel on my head slipped forward and I nearly fell forward as I tried to fix it.

"Who knows darling, who knows?" Said mum, appearing at the base of the stairs.

"Last time I saw them they were flung over the radiator in the upstairs bathroom." she said over her shoulder as she rifled through our closet (We call it the Black Hole).

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I sprinted to the bathroom and Thank Goodness they were there. I grabbed them and they were (mercifully) dry. Holding my towel on my head with one hand and my jeans in the other, I ran into my room, whipped of the towel on my head and hastily dressed into my jeans. I pulled my Doctor Who t-shirt over my head and grabbed my favourite blue and green checked shirt, flinging it on myself as I plugged my hairdryer into the socket by my bed.

My hair now dry, I plugged in my curlers. I didn't normally curl my hair, or wear it down for that matter, but I felt like today was special. I was going to make an effort. As I waited for my curlers to heat up, I realised that I was being interviewed by my favourite channel.

"Oh, I feel very lucky to be good friends with Harry Potter. We have been great friends since we were very young. We grew up together." I said to my imaginary interviewer. Just as she asked if I thought we might bring our relationship to the next level (…..) I smelt burning and I gave a small, slightly overdramatic, squeal as I felt the heat coming from the curlers.

I grabbed them up and curled a few strands, then checked how they looked in my little side mirror. I continued until most of my hair was in light waves down my back. Happy with my hair, I now had to put my face on.

"Sabine Babineux, get down these stairs right now. It is now exactly quarter to nine and we will take at least 20 minutes to walk to the Weasley's!" screamed mum up the stairs.

"You know shouting really doesn't help." I said, sounding exasperated, like she always did with me. I sprinted down the stairs, nearly slipping on the large amount of random boxes that had still to be unpacked.

"Don't take that tone with me." she said, already out the front door.

I grabbed my jacket from the table in the hall and flicked the living room and hall lights off. I leaped out the front door and into the open air, and was about to give a rendition of my sound of music performance from earlier in the week, when I realised mum was already nearly over the hill.

I sprinted to catch up with her, and by the time I reached her, I was too out of breath to say anything. Instead I took to admiring the amazing place that we had moved to. My dad had always loved the countryside and had made sure that when we moved back to England, we would live somewhere with fields and rivers and hills and open space. He had chosen well. As we reached the top of the hill, the view was stunning. Green and brown where the main colours and they covered the land as far as the eye could see. Nestled in between the base of our hill and the next sat a mad looking, slightly crooked, house. It must have had at least 5 floors, and it had multiple random bits sticking out the side, looking like they had simply been stuck on.

"Wow. It's strangely pretty isn't it?" I said, meaning for my mother to hear me, but she was still walking and hadn't stopped to admire the scenery. She was never one to admire the world's natural beauty.

As I walked to catch up with her, I noticed on the top of a hill to the left of me, sat another house, looking slightly less crooked than the Weasley's, but still extremely mad. From my position, it looked very colourful, other than the left side of it, which looked black. Hoping that there was a very interesting story behind the strange colouring of this house, I realised that we were nearly at the front door of the Weasley's.

Closer up, I could see chickens and sheds and at least 5 pairs of freshly muddy wellington boots. Mum knocked on the front door and after a few minutes we heard rustling behind the door. All of a sudden, I felt nerves hit me. I wasn't normally one to become shy, but the prospect of meeting the golden trio would make anyone self conscious.

Women wearing a flowery apron opened the door and I was hit by the most delicious smell. Bacon, eggs, buttered toast.

"Amelie! How lovely to see you!" The woman in the apron, who I guessed must be Molly, pulled my mum into a massive hug and patted her back.

"Molly. Lovely to see you as well. How long it has been." Mother said, pulling away. She wasn't a big one for showing random affection.

"Far too long dear. Come in, come in. Breakfast is on the table." As my mother went through the front door, which obviously led right to the kitchen, Molly's attention turned to me.

"Sabine? It can't be! Why, look how mature you are! I haven't seen you since you were about 8 years old, a tiny thing you were!" Now it was my turn to be pulled into a bone crushing hug. It was uncomfortable, but it was a real hug.

"Hello Molly. It's amazing to see you again." I said kindly as she finally let go of me and steered me through the door into the kitchen.

INn the centre of the small room sat a table, covered in platters of bacon, eggs, black pudding and toast. Jugs of orange juice, apple juice and pumpkin juice sat scattered throughout the food an I realised Molly must have gone to a lot of effort to get orange and apple juice just for us, as they wouldn't be used to it.

My mother was now talking to a tall skinny man, with bags under his eyes. I realised that both Molly and this man had exactly the same shad of bright orange hair. I caught a snippet of their conversation.

" ….lovely of you to let us come with you, Arthur. It has been quite a while since I have been to Diagon Alley. I most certainly would have gotten lost." my mother was saying.

Ah, so this was Arthur, Mollies husband. Mum had filled me in on all the family members just in case I didn't recognise them.

I looked around the kitchen as Molly ushered me to a seat at the table. All the chairs around the table were empty apart from mine and now Arthurs and mums. I guessed all the others must still be in bed.

"Now, you two help yourselves and I will go make those kids hurry up." said Molly as she bustled out of the kitchen.

"So, Sabine." Said Arthur, grabbing some bacon from the plate in the middle of the table. "Do you miss France?"

"Em, a little. I miss the heat and I had some really good friends there, but I can owl them. I love all the nature in England though. And I forgot how fresh the air is." I said. I reached for a sausage.

"Tell me, what are the gadgets like in France? Much different from England? For instance, do they have rubber ducks?" asked Arthur, just as Molly came back into the kitchen.

"Honestly Arthur. Leave the poor girl to eat. Amelie, you eat something as well. Ginny, Ron and Harry will be down in a minute. We are meeting Hermione there." She said as she sat down beside Arthur.

"This is fantastic food, Molly. Thank you very much." I said as I grabbed my second piece of toast.

"You're very welcome dear. How has your summer been?" she asked as she poured me some pumpkin juice.

"Fine thanks. Mostly unpacking and getting settled in. Decorating and stuff."

"Sounds lovely." Said Molly

"And yours?" asked my mum.

"Well, we spent ours mostly clearing up Hogwarts. After the war, most of the school was in pieces. And of course, we had some, erm, funerals to arrange." Molly said, her voice becoming thick.

"My sincere condolences, Molly." Said my mum, putting down her knife and fork and reaching across Arthur, to pat Mollies hand.

"Nonsense, I'm just being silly." Said Molly, wiping her eyes hastily.

"Anybody on our side lost their lives for the right reasons. We should be proud." Said Arthur, although his voice was thick with concealed emotion.

Just then I heard footsteps coming from beyond the door that Molly had left earlier. A girl with long, red hair wearing skinny genes and a jumper burst through the door and looked around the kitchen. Mum smiled at her, but didn't stand, probably from fear of being hugged again.

"Ginny! Look at you. You're so grown up." She said and Ginny grinned at her.

"Lovely to see you again, Mrs Babineux. How are you?" she asked as she sat down beside her mother and began to put food on her plate.

"I am wonderful thank you." Replied mum.

"Ginny dear, say hello to Sabine. Im sure you will remember her." Said Molly.

"Oh, I didn't see you there Saby! Of course I remember you! It's great to see you." Said Ginny and smiled across at me. She was treating me like we were old friends, which I guess we were.

"It's great to see you too Ginny! I've been so excited to see you again." I said and smiled back at her.

"Ginny where are those boys? I woke them up nearly an hour ago." Asked Molly, sounding exasperated.

"When I passed their room, they were both changing. Not a pretty sight to be honest." She laughed and I joined in. I was sure I'd get along with Ginny just fine.

"Oh, speak of the devil." Said Arthur as more footsteps could be heard from beyond the door. The door banged open and in came 2 boys, one with the same flaming red hair as Ginny, and one with messy black hair and glasses. Harry Potter.

He was very different from what I would have thought. He wasn't skinny or lanky, like I had read in French magazines. He was tall but he had filled out his height with that looked like muscles. His hair was messy, but slightly styled and wet, as if he had just washed it. He was also undoubtedly good looking.

"Ah, you took your time boys." Said Arthur as the ginger boy rolled his eyes. I guessed this was Ron.

"Well, we're here now aren't we?" He said, and grabbed the seat next to me.

"Hi, I'm Ron. Im guessing your Sabine? I sort of remember you." This he said whilst looking in delight at the food on the table.

"Yea, I'm Sabine. Nice to see you again." I said, and laughed to myself at his haste to eat as much food as possible.

"Harry sit down dear and eat something." Said Molly "And Ron, say hello to Amelie, Sabine's mother. I'm certain you'll remember her."

"Of course I do, you're the one who gave me a voucher for Florien Fortesques for my 5th birthday. Nice to see you again." Said Ron. Harry sat down beside Ron and now the table was full.

"You too dear. And nice to meet you Harry. I'm Amelie Babineux." Said my mother, who was nibbling at a piece of toast.

"Oh, nice to meet you too." Said Harry, looking shy.

"This is my daughter Sabine." Said mum, nodding towards me.

"Nice to meet you Sabine. Said Harry, sticking his hand out. I shook it and smiled.

"You too, Harry." I replied.

The talk around the table turned to Hogwarts. I already knew a lot about it from reading Hogwarts: A history, but it was nice getting it from someone who had actually been there, lived there. My dad had told me some stories from when he went there, but that was when I was younger, and I didn't really remember them. From what I could recall, my dad was in Slytherin. Harry, Ron and Ginny all belonged to Gryffindor and despite the fact that I wanted to be in my dad's old house, I had heard things about Slytherin's, and I would love to be in a house with people I already knew. The food rapidly disappeared and soon, the sun was bright in the sky and Molly announced we should head off.

I had bonded with Ginny over breakfast and we were chatting easily by the time that we were getting ready to apparate. I had found out that Ginny and Harry were together and very happy with each other. I found out that Ginny had had a crush on Harry since she was very young and when she had finally gotten over him, he had started to like her. I had laughed with her about the whole thing and we playfully mocked Harry about it.

"What about you Ron? Anyone in your life at the moment." I said, with a cheeky grin playing on my lips.

"Actually yes. Me and Hermione." He said, blushing and looking at his feet.

"Seriously?" I asked

"Honestly, you both took your time. Everyone knew you would end up together since like 4th year. Your eyes nearly dropped out of your head when you saw Hermione at the Yule ball." Said Ginny. Harry laughed and Ron blushed.

"Come on you four, are you ready?" asked Molly.

"Mum, do we have to apparate? I hate it." Complained Ron.

"What, do you suggest we walk to London?" asked Ginny and I laughed.

"Saby, put on your coat please. You've never apparated this far before." Said mum.

"I'll be fine, mum."

"Right kids you go first. Remember were going to Diagon Alley. Not Knockturn Alley or Diagonilly." Said Arthur, with a small smile on his face as he looked at Harry.

"That was different! That was the first time I had used the Floo Network!" said Harry, sounding offended, but he laughed.

Ginny and Ron laughed. I guessed it was an inside joke.

"I'll explain later" said Ginny, seeing the confused expression on my face.

I smiled and I noticed that Harry had just turned on his heel and disappeared. Ron sighed and did the same, scrunching his eyes up. Ginny waved and followed suit. I took a deep breath and turned on my heel, thinking only of Diagon Alley, Diagon Alley, Diagon Alley.

**Thank you so much for reading and make sure you review! xx**


	3. The Grangers and The Malfoys

The horrid feeling of my apparition (The tube effect as I my dad used to describe it) ended as abruptly as it had begun and I landed, stumbling, beside Ginny. We were standing right in front of what looked like a big book shop. One of the large windows was boarded up with cardboard, but the other was piled high with books, mostly biographies of Harry, Ron and another pretty girl with brown wavy brown hair, that I guessed was Hermione.

Harry and Ron were both staring in through the window, Harry grimacing and Ron looking quite delighted.

"How did they even get those pictures of us?" asked Harry, referring to the smiling photo of himself on the front of one of the books.

"Remember that picture that you let Skeeter take of you for her interview in fifth year?" asked Ron "Yea well, they can alter them. Use spells on the picture to make you look happier of sadder."

Harry shook his head in disgust and Ginny took his hand.

"I think it's a lovely picture." He said, looking up into Harry's eyes, and I blushed and caught Ron's eye. I gestured away from the bookshop with my head and he gladly followed me as we walked up the street to the robe shop we had agreed to meet the adults in.

"Thanks." Said Ron.

"For what?" I asked, looking in wonder at the stunning street around me.

"For giving me an excuse to get away from them. I don't mind Harry dating her, but it's when they get all soppy and romantic that I can't stand to be in the same room as them." He said, scrunching his nose up. I laughed at him.

"Well, I bet it's strange for him seeing you and Hermione together." I said.

"He hasn't had to suffer as much as I have. 'Mione's been in Australia since a little after the war so I haven't had a chance to be with her." Ron said gloomily.

"Australia?" I asked interestedly.

"It's a very long story. I can't wait to see her again, you've no idea." He said, blushing slightly at letting his emotions show.

"I think it's sweet." I said and bumped into him playfully. I looked up, expecting him to bump me back, but the smile had disappeared from his face and a scowl had replaced it. He was staring off down the street and I followed his line of sight.

Standing outside a shop called Madame Malkins, stood a tall, quite attractive boy about the same age as Ron and Harry. His platinum blond hair was flopping in front of his eyes as he stared at his feet. A woman with the same shiny blonde hair was standing beside him, her nose high in the hair, talking to none other than Mr Weasley. Ron seemed to be very un-happy about this.

"What is dad doing talking to _them_?" he asked, mostly to himself. He had stopped walking, and looked hesitant to continue towards the robe shop.

"Who are they? What's wrong with your dad talking to that woman?" I asked as Ron looked back towards where Harry and Ginny were still standing, laughing about something. They obviously hadn't noticed the thing that seemed to bother Ron so much.

"That, Sabine, is Draco Malfoy and his mother." Said Ron, shooting a look of disgust towards the boy.

"Who?" I asked. Those names meant nothing to me.

"I think my version of events may be a bit biased so I'll let you make your own decisions about them. Let's just say, they were on the wrong side in the war." Said Ron, who was starting towards the boy and his mother now.

"You-know-who's-side? Seriously?" I asked, but Ron didn't seem to hear me, he was walking with a look of scary determination on his face.

As we neared the Malfoy's and Mr Weasley, I noticed that, as well kept as both of the Malfoy's looked from afar, they were both rather shabby as you got closer. They both had bags under their eyes and Draco's suit trousers, were too short, just passing his ankles. The mother was wearing a black dress and a long black cloak, but it was fraying as it neared the ground.

Ron had reached them and I hesitated slightly behind him as I listened to the conversation.

"Ah, Ron there you are. Mrs Malfoy was just asking about you actually. Mrs Malfoy, I'm sure you know my youngest son Ron? And this," Said Mr Weasley, who to my horror was now gesturing to me, "is the daughter of a friend of ours, Sabine."

I stepped forward to stand beside Ron and smiled politely at the intimidating woman standing before me. She stuck out her hand, which was covered in rings with multiple jewels missing.

"Nice to meet you Sabine. I am Narcissa Malfoy and this is my son Draco." She smiled stiffly at me and I shook her hand as I smiled at the boy. He looked up and gave me a small smile in return, his eyes shifting nervously to Ron beside me.

"Nice to meet you to." I said.

"Would you two mind finding Harry and Ginny please? We need to meet the grangers in about half an hour." Mr Weasley asked, looking at Ron, who was glaring at Draco.

"Course, Mr Weasley. Come on Ron." I said, pulling at his sleeve.

Ron looked down at me and seemed to realise I was talking to him.

"Sorry." He said. He nodded at Mrs Malfoy, glared at Draco and stalked back up the street.

"Nice to meet you." I said quickly to the Malfoys and ran after him.

"Ron? Ron! What's wrong? You looked properly scary back then with that boy." I asked as I caught up with him.

"Cause, I can't stand him. Makes my skin crawl the way he was acting all shy and timid. As if he regretted it all." Muttered Ron, still looking livid.

"Regretted what? I don't understand." I asked. From my point of view, Draco seemed reasonably pleasant, if a bit timid. He must have done something very wrong to annoy someone as easy going as Ron. We had reached Harry and Ginny, who were just leaving the book shop with bags hanging over their arms.

"Dad wants us. You will never guess who he was having a chat with." Said Ron.

Ron explained to Ginny and Harry about the Malfoys and both of them showed equal amounts of disgust at the news. None of them seemed to remember that I had no idea what the Malfoys had done wrong, and didn't explain to me. As we reached the robes shop, we saw that the Malfoys had gone and Mr Weasley was now talking with my mum and Mrs Weasley.

"Where did the Malfoys go? Why were you talking to them dad?" asked Ron, rather aggressively.

"Both Narcissa and Draco have been pardoned Ron," said Mr Weasley, sensing his sons anger. "You have no reason to hold a grudge against them any longer."

"Dad! They fought with Voldemort! How can you say they didn't do anything wrong?" Demanded Ginny. It shocked me when she used his name. I expected her, of all people would be frightened of it still.

"Neither Narcissa nor Draco harmed anyone during the war, Ginny. Lucius is in Azkaban and he deserves it." Said Mrs Weasley.

"But.." began Harry.

"Leave it, dear. We need to get you robes before we meet the Grangers." Mrs Weasley said.

We entered the small shop and waited while Madam Malkin fitted small boy's robes. We all got fitted and chatted away with the kindly shop owner as she did it. We paid for our robes and began off towards where the Weasley's had agreed to meet with Hermione and her family.

I feel to the back of our little group, to walk beside my mum.

"Do you know who the Malfoys are mum?" I asked. I was not going to give up without figuring out why Ron, Harry and Ginny hated them so much.

"Not personally no. All I know is that they were on You-Know-Who's side during the war, and then at the last minute, both Mrs Malfoy and Draco ran away, leaving Draco's father to fight alongside You know Who alone. That, I think, is why neither the boy nor his mother was sent to Azkaban." Said mum, looking disapproving.

"They just ran away?" I said. I guess mum sensed my indignation as she continued.

"Now Sabine, I want you to get to know this boy before you make an opinion on him." She said, sternly.

"I'm not sure I want to get to know him." I muttered to myself. Mum walked on ahead and I realised that the Weasley's and Harry had stopped outside what looked like an ice cream parlour. Ron was embracing a tall, pretty girl, with wavy hair, the same one as from the front of the biography at flourish and blotts. This must be Hermione.

Mr and Mrs Weasley were both greeting two adults who I assumed to be Hermione's muggle parents. It was easy to identify them as muggles thanks to their clothing, which was more similar to mine and mums than to the Weasley's.

"Amelie, come meet the Grangers." Called Mrs Weasley and mum stepped forward and shook hands with them.

"Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Granger. I am Amelie Babineux and this is my daughter Sabine." Mum gestured to me and I stepped forward and smiled a hello at them.

"Lovely to meet you too Amelie. Will you be in Hermione's year at school Sabine?" asked Mrs Granger.

"Yes." I smiled over at Hermione who had joined the conversation.

"Great! It'll be good to have a new face in the group." Said Hermione.

"Hey!" said Ron indignantly.

The rest of the day was lovely. I found that I got along with Hermione even better than I did with Ginny, and when we got back to the burrow for dinner, we both pulled out our new books and sat side by side on the sofa and read right up until the food was on the table. Hermione was easy to talk to and I got along with her very well.

It was nearly midnight by the time that mum said we had to leave and I seriously didn't want to.

"Well, we'll see you on the first." Mrs Weasley said as she said goodbye to us at the door.

"See you Saby." Called Ron and Harry as they climbed the stairs.

"Bye!" I called back as I hugged Ginny and then Hermione.

"See you soon. Safe home." Hermione said.

"Come on Sabine." Said my mum as she lifted my bags. "See you on the first Molly."

I walked after my mum and turned and waved one last time through the dark.

"Lumos." I heard from behind me and I turned back to my mum who was heading up the hill. I pulled my jacket closer round me as we walked home and shivered at the cold. The darkness was creepy and suddenly I was trekking through a damp rain forest. I could hear twigs snapping behind me and I knew I had a pursuer. I sprinted forward and did a tumble roll and I hit the trunk of a tree.

But then the tree moved and shrieked. "Sabine, what on earth are you doing. Get up now, the grass is soaking and you have ruined your shirt!"

Oh. The tree was my mum. Great.


End file.
